Forget The Past
by anime-wolf-child
Summary: Shizuku finds some rubbish in the water, wait! Is that human? Ignore all bad grammer, sentences, spelling, names, and characters.
1. Chapter 1

I walked along the river bank; it wasn't too chilly, the sun had just started to set. The entire scene would look perfect on a large wall hanging or scroll if I had the time. Being the artist I am the real reason to be there was to get away from all my work. I was swamped with commissions it was going to take a long time to get them all done. My eyes caught the sight of a rather large dragonfly it was a brilliant blue colour, as a child I had always love them, their colours, the way they seemed to float on the air; yes they were beautiful, if only I had brought my sketch book I mentally cursed myself for forgetting it. I allowed my eyes to follow it as it flew across the river to a sand bar that jutted up from the rivers surface I saw something, it was big, probably trash.

Trash in the river was rare, normally the village shinobi cleaned it up on missions that the Hokage gave the new recruits; I knew little about them since I lived so far away from the village. I tilted my head to get a better look at it. It looked like a gourd at the people from the desert use to carry water from place to place; but what it doing so far from the desert!

"Great, I'm going to have to fish it out."I said to myself with some annoyance.

It's not that I had a problem in going and fishing it out of the river, but that someone had let it get here so that I had to go and get the damn thing! I stepped out into the river; it wasn't that deep at its highest it came up to my waist. When I arrived at the sand bar I saw just how big it was on it there were some black marks for decoration, around the middle was a red material that was wet and discoloured from being in the river. My eyes travelled to the top of the gourd where some short reddish brown hair caught my attention. Hair? Then I saw an arm and a hand. It was person!

They weren't moving and lying on their stomach but their face was turned to the side so they had a chance of breathing. I grabbed their shoulder and turned 'em over, thanks to the waterlogged clothes I could see it was a boy. His face was smudged with the dirt from the river I tried to rub it off; I couldn't get it to come off from around his eyes. I looked closer to see it was the colour of his skin a bit puffy from lack of sleep as well.

"Odd, they don't look like tattoos; I wonder how they got there?"I asked myself

I brushed the dirt from his forehead when I felt something that felt like a scar above his left eye. This time it was a tattoo, 'ai' it read._** This boy is most defiantly odd. I wonder why has he love tattooed to his forehead?**_ I thought. Then it clicked, he was far too young to have a tattoo in the first place! I looked down at his chest I saw a hole in his t-shirt where a leather strap went over; that to had a hole in it; it looked like it had been burned through.

"Oh my god are you okay? Please speak to me!" I half yelled at him shaking his shoulder a bit in an attempt to wake him up. His eyes snapped open as if I had yelled 'Fire' at him. He stared at me well more glared at me as if I about to hurt him. This wasn't the reaction I had been hoping for; a person doesn't just lay there after someone has saved them from a river. His glare was incredibly piercing, as though he could see into my soul just by staring into my eyes. I sifted a bit on the sand bar waiting for him to say something.

"Are you alright?" I repeated.

He didn't move at all it made me wonder if he could move at all. _**Come on say something you're making me nervous.**_ I thought to myself I needed to know if he was alright I didn't like to see people suffering.

"I'll help you get better if you what? Come on I'll help you to my house it's not very far. I can carry you there if you can't walk?" I asked him.

The only reaction I got was his glare becoming more piecing; he clearly didn't what to be carried. _**Please the longer you stay in the water the more I worry about you. **_Why was I thinking that? I looked at his left shoulder again it was horrible; it must hurt; it was a burn. What could have done that to him? He didn't look very old either only about 12 or 13 as far as I could tell. I stud up hoping to get him to stand up as well, I took a few steps back so to give him room to get up. He still lay there only his eyes followed me. The possibility of him not being able to move was becoming more obvious.

"Can you get up on your own or do you want me to help you?"I asked him in a soft voice so I could maybe convince him I meant no harm; I also offered my hand to him to show him I meant what I send. His glair fell on my hand then back to my face as if he was debating whether or not I meant what I had just said. Finally he shifted and sat up a bit, using his arms to bare the weight of his torso, his head tilted down a bit as if he didn't have the strength to hold it up. His eyes looked up at me in an untrusting way, slowly he lifted his hand to meet mine, I gripped his hand tight then heaved him to his feet I stumbled back a few paces into a deeper part of the river making the water splash around my ankles.

I held him strait for a few moments so he could find his feet, slowly I let go of his hand I saw him sway slightly as I let go but he quickly found his balance again. His mouth was open slightly as he panted his chest rising and falling with each breath he took. I saw that the gourd was actually strapped to his back it looked heavy even though I wasn't carrying it.

"Do you what me to carry that for you?" I softly asked I seemed to have better results when I spoke in that tone. His eyes looked into mine; he tilted his head to the side by the tiniest of a degree. I could see he was confused by what I had said.

"The gourd it looks really heavy I'll carry it for you." I said with a little smile.

He seemed to ponder what I said for a moment then tugged at the small buckle that was attached to a small strap that buckled to the larger leather strap that held the gourd to his back. Once it was undone he lifted the leather strap over his head and held it out in front of him for me to get. Further down the large strap were two smaller straps; like the one he unbuckled near the hole in the leather; underneath them was a piece of metal that was attached to a piece of fabric. It was covered in river mud so I couldn't so what it said on the metal. I shifted the gourd so I could reach the metal plate the; with my thumb I smudged away the mud underneath was a symbol that looked like an hourglass with a rectangular box above it, a bit like a fat 'I'. I pondered what it meant when I finally got it. _**He's a shinobi he doesn't come from Konoha though. The gourd! He must come from the desert, he must be from Suna! He's a long way from home he needs to get back as soon as he can or they could think he's dead.**_ I almost dropped the gourd from the thought.

"Come on my house is only a short walk away; we need to get inside before we get a cold."I told him in a cheery voice, then turned back to the river bank and started to walk towards it. I could hear him follow me through the water his footsteps were in a regular pattern, just a bit slow. When I got to the river bank and started to make my way back to my house I didn't hear the boy step onto the bank. _**Did he stop?**_ I thought scrunching my face up slightly in confusion. I turned around to see him standing a few steps behind me. This was the first time I could have a good look at him.

His t-shirt was black and clung to his thin frame from being wet, were the sleeve finished a fishnet sleeve started and finished a bit above his elbow; over his left shoulder was a length of white material it went across his body finishing at his left hip it appeared to have been tied around his waist then the ends left to flow in the wind it was dirty and wet from the river; his pants were baggy and also black there was a large pocket on his left thigh they finished just below his knees were they were tight so they could be pushed up to make shorts; covering the rest of his legs were bandages that properly went down to his ankles but were hidden by his black ninja sandals. All his clothing was wet and dirty from the river the hole in his shoulder needed cleaning and bandaging, all the time I was staring at him, he didn't so must as blink.

I turned back satisfied that he was following me even though I couldn't hear his footsteps. _**He's a shinobi, they can hide themselves perfectly from normal eyes, so it also seems they can hide themselves from normal ears as well, slightly creepy but amazing all the same. **_I was lost in my thoughts for the first part of the journey to my house when I thought I should introduce myself.

"I'm Shizuku by the way, I'm also an artist I'll do almost anything; as long as people pay. My only problem is that I have no time for my own work my favourite things to paint are insects and foxes I love the way that each of them is uniquely beautiful in its own way." I was rambling now I knew it hopefully he wouldn't get bored with what I was saying.

"Here we are." I smiled as we came to the front of my house.

I turned my head when if heard a swishing sound behind me. He had gone. I turned my head back to see him standing, well more hanging upside down on a tree branch close to my house he was glaring at me again. I looked directly in his eyes, like a rabbit just before it gets run over by a cart, they were beautiful. They were a faded grey/blue with the slightest hint of a minty green with a darker grey around the iris. His eyes narrowed in anger I could feel whatever was in the gourd he had been carrying shift in reaction of his emotion. I turned and walked up to the door pushed it open and entered, behind me I heard the same swishing sound that I had heard before. _**It's a ninja thing all of them can do things like that. **_I ran over the thought in my head to clam myself down. Why I did not yet know. I put the gourd on the floor by the door so it wouldn't make a mess, took off my shoes and laid them on the shoe rack.

"You can put your sandals by the door so they can dry out." I turned to face him as I spoke. He slipped his feet out of his sandals with little effort then placed them by the door as I had told him to. I turned then walked along the hall to the bathroom. In the hall where my most prized paintings hung; I would never sell them, not for the entire Fire country would I give them up. I heard him stop. Confused at why he had stopped I turned around. I was shocked to see him shaking with his beautiful eyes wide with fear; I followed his eyes to see that he was staring at one of my most prized paintings.

It was given to me by a traveller that had come from the desert he said 'I give you this painting for I can't sell it in my home village and it is my best work yet I only hope you never have to see it.' At the time what he said confused me because it was a demon and the demons were long gone.

He was still shaking, even more so this time, he made a strange whimpering sound and slumped against the wall to his right his left hand was tangled in his hair as though he was in immense pain. Slowly he slipped down the wall to sit on the floor still shaking and gripping his head, a sudden whooshing sound brought to my attention that a giant spare of sand was coming down the hall towards me. At the last moment I ducked and the sand spare crashed into the painting he had been staring at, ripping it to pieces, the sand continued to swirl and dance as it found its next victim.

"Stop! Please stop! It's alright It's only a painting!" I was screaming at him with all the force I had to get him to stop not because of my precious paintings but because of the blank, emotionless expression he had on his face and the complete and utter fear he had in his eyes.

"Stop please, I beg you!" I cried out to him with tears in my eyes, one escaped leaking down my cheek. "Please, I beg you; don't do this, I beg you." More tears were coming now I could bare to see people suffer like they did back at my village. His fearful eyes turned to meet mine and the sand hissed to a stop collecting into a pile on the door. I knelt in the sand in front of him and gently rapped my arms around him, rocking him back and forth and shushing him like a mother would. I could still feel him shake now and again when he finally stopped I held him out at arms length he had his head down as though he couldn't bring himself to look into my eyes.

"It's okay; it's only a few paintings. Come on you need to get cleaned up." I smiled at him to show that he meant more then a few paintings even if they could never be replaced.

"Shizuku... I'm... Sorry." Came his reply; it shocked me to hear his voice for the first time. His voice was deep, soft and raspy; almost demonic; by the sound of his voice I could tell he was tired.

"Don't worry, you don't need to apologize, you should be concentrating on getting better, okay." I told him as I got to my feet and held my hand to him so he could take it. When he was standing I put his right arm over my shoulder so I could get him to the bathroom easier. _**The sand. That's not normal; it seemed to react to his emotion. If he's a shinobi I bet that's not all he can do with it.**_ The thought shocked me even though he was just a child he had the power to kill me in an instant.

When we reached the bathroom I sat him down on the toilet seat. He was slightly panting again he brought his right hand up to his left shoulder; he didn't touch the skin he just kept it there in a protective manor. He closed his eyes so he could calm himself down; I could see that the black marks were on his eyelids as well. The more I looked at him the more he seemed like a lost, injured animal; wanting so much to be cared for and healed and so fearful that they would be hurt even more and rejected.

"The soap and shampoo are on the ledge in the shower; I'm sorry to say that you'll have to smell of green tea, I don't have anything else, sorry." I made an apologetic smile when I said it. He nodded his slightly in response. I left the bathroom, shut the door for him then waited for the sounds of him undressing to go to the kitchen and fill up the sink with hot water so I could wash his clothes. When it was full and bubbling from the soap, I went back to the bathroom to see if he had finished undressing.

__

"Have you finished?" I called to him through the door.

I heard the door click open a crack I saw a tiny sliver of his face and chest, he opened the door a bit more and held out a parcel of his clothes tied together by the white material he had been wearing. I took it with a 'thank you.' He nodded his head to show I could leave and slid the door shut.

I took his clothes into the kitchen, untied them and grabbed the first item off the neatly folded pile, it was a fishnet t-shirt with longish sleeves. _**So it was a separate t-shirt. **_I thought as I dumped the rest of his clothes in the sink and got a big wooden spoon and stirred them around. I left them to soak as I went into my bedroom to find some clothes for him to wear until his dried.

Thank god my clothes weren't girly or I don't think I would have found him anything at all. I finally found a large, black t-shirt that had a wide neck on it and long sleeves, some thin, faded shorts for underwear and a pair of long, baggy combats that were a very dark almost black blue in colour, I would weir them when I went walking they were very comfortable as well. I took off my wet shorts that I was wearing and replaced them with a pair of baggy fleecy pants that I wore at night. As I left the room with the pile of clothes I grabbed the belt that was hanging on the hook on my door so the black combats wouldn't fall down when he put them on.

I stopped outside the bathroom and heard the shower was still running. _**Odd, he's had plenty of time to wash I wonder if something's wrong?**_ I put the clothes on the floor and knocked on the door.

"Are you okay? I'm coming in; get a towel if you don't want me to see anything I shouldn't." I called to him through the door.

I slid the door open to be met by the heavy sent of green tea and a large cloud of steamy mist. I looked at the towel rack to see that they where all there, I grabbed one for him to use and walked up to the shower. I could that he was laying in a crumpled mess on the floor of the shower, water raining down on him. I could see on his back and the little bit of his sides I could see where covered in marks. My eyes widened shock. On his back where whip marks; they had been made so they could be easily covered by a t-shirt so they wouldn't show; around the marks where cracks in what appeared to be his skin. On his side burses that looked like they had been caused by kicks and the same odd cracks in his skin around them.

"I..I'm...I'm so sorry."I stammered I was almost crying tears of anger._** Who would do such a thing! He's only a child! When I find out who did this to him I'll kill them and use their blood to paint a picture of a butterfly! **_I thought in outrage. Slowly he lifted his head to look up at me his eyes showed so some strange sadness that made me cry, he looked so pitiful, just lying in the pool of water. How could anyone ever deserve to have that done to them?

"Why...a-are you c-c-crying?"His voice was so weak it made me cry even more, in his eyes I must have looked so pathetic just standing there and crying my eyes out. I rubbed my eyes with the towel, walked forwards, opened the glass door to the shower and reached in and turned the water off. I knelt down on the floor just outside the shower and put the large towel over his body.

"I'm just going to get you some clothes, okay."I softly told him.

"Thank you."His reply was almost a whisper I almost thought he didn't say it at all.

When I came back holding the clothes, I found him rapped in the towel leaning against one of the walls for support. I could see that now with all the river mud off him, his skin was so pale it looked as though it was made of porcelain. He turned his head to face me; his beautiful, pale eyes were barely open. I left the clothes on the side of the bath and left without a word, closed the door and then walked to the kitchen to finish washings his clothes.

I fished out all the clothes, rung them out the best I could then placed them on the rail in front of my cooker to dry. I opened one of the cupboards and found the first aid kit; it seemed that he needed a bit more then a quick patching up. I went back to the bathroom and stood outside.

"Are you ready yet?"I called to him a weak 'yes' was my reply.

I entered to see him sitting on the edge of the bath I helped him to his feet then slung his right arm over my shoulder and helped him walk to the sofa in the living room and sat him down on. I helped him get the t-shirt off so I could get a better look at his injuries. The burn looked the oldest it already had some kind of glaze on it to stop infection so it was easily cleaned and treated. For the burses I put some healing cream on to sooth the pain and help them go down quicker, he did flinch a bit but kept an emotionless face.

"Can you lie on your stomach please?" I asked as gently as I could.

His glare returned but did as I had asked. I dipped some cotton wool in a weak alcohol solution and started to clean the cuts caused by the whip, he flinched and tried to move away but he was too weak to move much.

"Shhhh, it's alright I know it hurts but you have to let me help you or it'll only get worse." I said trying to sooth him.

He looked at me with untrusting eyes but let me continue. When I had finished I rapped him in bandages and pulled the t-shirt back over his head. I looked at the clock, I had no idea it was so late, it said it was 11 o'clock. I grabbed a blanket and draped it over him.

"Do you what something to eat or drink?" I asked him.

"Just some water and some rice." He said quietly I nodded and I could just hear him say 'thank you' as I left.

Cooking seemed to take forever, I turned his clothes over so that the over side would dry a bit. I let the rice cool a bit as I poured out two glasses of water then tested to see if the rice had cooled down enough before I put it all on a tray and carried it to him. _**The one thing I haven't asked yet is his name. To think I've just let him into my home without a name. **_I thought as I handed him the tray and took my glass of water and sat down in the chair opposite the sofa. He ate slowly not like I thought he would. When he had finally finished eating I took the bowl from him and let him drink the water he put the glass on the floor and sat looking into my eyes for the answer to a question I didn't know.

"What is your name?" I asked him softly.

"Gaara..Sabaku no Gaara."He said in a soft voice.

I nodded turning as I walked away from him back to the kitchen were I took all his clothes off the rack and hung them on one of the low roof beams. If anyone came to my house I would tell them I was looking after my sick nephew for my sister while she was away looking for herbs. A not very good alibi but it would do for now. Hopefully he would heal quickly and be on his way in a few months. Thank god I didn't live to close to Konoha or I would have had to bring him to the Hokage who I'd heard had in an invasion and some shinobi would have taken him in for questioning and by the looks of him they wouldn't get many answers.

I got changed into my nightwear and climbed into my bed dragging the covers over my head. I was so worried about him, he looked so weak but I had faith in him to get better. _**I'll see you in the morning then... Gaara.**_ I'll thought as I drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

I was woken by the smell of cooking; it smelt so good I thought it was a dream. Yawning I got up and dressed in the same orange t-shirt with a big fox on the front I had draw on it in red ink I had worn the day before and a pair of long khaki combats that were like the ones I had let Gaara borrow the night before.

I walked into the kitchen still half asleep and rubbing the sleep from my eyes to see the table had been set and three plates of the most delicious looking food I had seen in a long time. I looked towards the cooker and saw Gaara standing string a small pot of something on one of the hobs wearing the same outfit I had given him to wear. Without looking from the food he was cooking he lifted one hand and pointed towards the table as if to say I should sit and eat. I did, I had no idea how he did it but even the best cooks in the Fire country would be jealous, took the nearest plate and began to eat the little dumplings on it. They were so good. I needed to get the recipe from him later, I knew they wouldn't taste as good but I could at least try. He walked softly across the floor to the table and poured a honey coloured source on top of a plate of fried squid.

"Are you going to have any?"I asked him not wanting to be greedy.

"No, I already ate." Came his reply.

I looked at the little clock hanging on the wall opposite where I was sitting it read 6 o'clock, in the morning._** It's 6 o'clock in the morning and he said he had already eaten! This food must have at least taken half an hour to cook and there are no dirty dishes so he must have also cleaned up as well. What time does he get up in the morning? **_It didn't take my long to eat it all; he refused money for cooking me the food every time I asked him. I gathered all the plates and took them to the sink and washed them clean. All the time he just stood leaning on a wall staring at me nether moving or speaking. His eyes looked so cold and unforgiving, they seemed to demand authority yet at the same time beg for forgiveness as if he had done such terrible things that not even a god could forgive. I could also see the true colour of his hair; it was a deep red, like blood, it was quite short and stuck out at odd angels in unruly spikes.

"I'll be in my art studio if you need me; it's the last room in the hall on the left." I told him I needed to be sure he didn't just go off somewhere.

He just nodded and disappeared in a cloud of swirling sand. I was shocked at what he did I had no idea it possible to use sand to teleport oneself. It was truly amazing, but that was probably just because I wasn't a shinobi. _**That's not fair, I wish I had joined the ninja academy not followed that old lady. But then I wouldn't have the life I have now.**_ I smiled as I remembered the old lady who had taut me all about art. She was such a kind lady, Choko, I miss her so much I still can't believe that she gave me her house when she died.

I reached my art studio. It was the one room in my house that you could see the little clearing filled with so many different flowers, a truly beautiful site. I looked around for my paints and saw the painting I had to finish. It was an odd one, a commission, it was a Sakura tree with multi-coloured flowers not a particularly hard one to paint but a refreshing one. I was glad someone had an artistic mind for the odd and unusual.

I finally finished the painting and left it to dray as I went to the kitchen to find a snack. The cupboards where mostly bare but I did manage to find one pot of instant Raman. _**I really need to go **_

_**shopping; I'll go tomorrow with Gaara so I can get more ingredients for his culinary master pieces. **_I thought as the Raman finished heating up and then went outside to eat. It was a brilliant day so I just had to make the most of it.

I sat on the ground a little way a way from my house, the ground was dry so it was okay to sit on. I looked at the area in front of me with no real interest when the soft, sandy colour of Gaaras gourd caught my attention. He was sitting cross-legged with it in front of him; he seemed to be looking at it closely for damage. When his eyes found a crack he placed his hand over it paused for few moments then moved on to look for more. I could see the cracks disappear as though he was filling them in with whatever material it was made of. He looked up from it and locked his eyes on mine, as if searching for something then nodding and continuing in repairing the gourd.

"How does that work?" I had no intention of asking, but the words just slipped from my mouth.

"The gourd is made of sand; I can repair any damage by refilling the gaps with new sand."He replied.

It made sense; I had seen what he could do with the sand so it was only retinal that he could also use it to repair what was made of sand. I hadn't seen any shinobi wield that kind of power in my time at Konoha, maybe it was one of those fancy powers that you posed if you where part of a certain clan. That made sense too seeming he came from Suna which is in the middle a desert and Konoha is in the middle of a giant forest. I wished even more I had joined the ninja academy.

I saw him look to his left I followed his eyes to see what he was looking at when a flock of birds rose from the tree tops, it was nothing. He stood and disappeared in a cloud of sand in the blink of an eye; if he had retreated it was probably not a good idea to stick around. I jumped up and hid behind a tree just before two shinobi landed in the clearing.

"It's not here." The first one said.

"I can see that!"The second one said slightly annoyed, he sounded the younger of the two."And anyway why would It be here?"

"It wouldn't go back to the village, it's not that stupid."The older one said.

"Do you think It's still alive?"

"Of coarse It's still alive they wouldn't send us to get a corpse!"

"You never know, the council seems to have to have lost it, don't you think, I mean punishing It for failing a mission that was a fraud to begin with. I just can't believe that they didn't know he wasn't Kazekage-sama."

"They just want power and they'll do anything to keep it."

"I heard that when they got It, he didn't even resist at all, he let them beat him into the ground."

So who ever they where talking about was a shinobi who had failed a mission and was beaten for it. What kind of country did they come from!? I came from my hiding place and faced them.

"Why are you at my house?" I asked them seeing if they would tell the truth.

"A rescues mission for Suna." The older one said I could see he was wearing the usual shinobi gear; he had dark brown hair.

"Could I ask who or what you are looking for?"I asked I wanted to know what they were talking about.

"A monster, just pray you never have to meet it."The younger one replied, he was wearing the same as the older one he to had dark hair but his was in tight curls. When he said it he got a nasty look from the older one.

"May I enquire to the name of this monster?" I asked with no fear but if a shinobi called something a monster it usually was.

"No you may not." The older one said in a stern voice."You have no need in its name."

I heard a soft whooshing sound to my right when a small knife flew through the air landing mere inches in front of the Suna shinobi. They both took out similar knives and looked to see where their attacker was hiding. Two more landed closer then the fist one to the shinobi and a third just nicked the arm of the younger one.

"We've been spotted. Damn! Retreat." The older one had called to the younger one and they vanished without trace, well at least to my eyes.

After they had gone, Gaara reappeared in the clearing next to the knives and picked them up and walked to the one that had fallen after hitting its target, he wiped the blade on the grass by his feet then walked towards me.

"They didn't hurt you did they?" It was odd hearing him ask me a question.

"No, they just kept going on about something they called It."I told him hopping he may tell me what they were going on about.

His eyes seemed to darken and glaze over. He looked down slightly clenching his fists because I could hear the metal handles of the knives clinch tightly together, but I was to busy looking at his face. He obviously knew what It was. But his reaction was as if that was an insult that they gave him.

"I'm sorry." It came out as barely a whisper. I didn't even mean to say it.

He looked up in surprise, his eyes wide with shock. I smiled to show him I meant want I had said even if it wasn't meant for him. I walked back to the door with the empty pot of noodles. When I reached the door I looked back to see if he had followed me; he was still standing there as if he had been bound to the earth.

"Why?" That was the only word I could hear him say.

"Because no one deserves to be called a monster, no matter what evil things they may do. We make a choice on what path we choose to follow, weather that choice was to save ourselves or to save others, it was still a choice we made. We may not agree with the things they may do but we must understand why they made that choice. That was what my old teacher once said to me after I told 

her what happened to my village."I told him remembering what happened that fateful day all those years ago."I only think that they lack the love to understand that no one is a monster."

His eyes went wide again he began to shake just like he did yesterday before he had unleashed his true power on my poor paintings. He grabbed a fistful of his hair and began to shake his head violently from side to side as if something poisonous had landed on it. To my horror he stopped shaking his head and made a move to crack it against the tree I had been hiding behind.

"NO!"I screamed helplessly at him, unable to stop him.

What I saw was almost unbelievable. Just before his head made contact with the tree a wall of sand leaped up saved him from harm. It stared to rap around him protectively but he pulled away and lifted his face to the sky and screamed. It was like no sound I had heard before it was high pitched but would travel for miles. It sounded like a mix of pain: but he had not been harmed; of fear: but there was nothing to scare him and of anger; as if he hated the sand for saving him.

"I HATE YOU YASHAMARU! I HATE YOU!" He half screamed half cried then fell to his knees and bent fore wards so he was facing the ground.

I had no idea who Yashamaru was or the reason why Gaara hated him but I was so saddened by what I saw I started to cry. Again. Slowly I walked towards him when I got close to him the sand reared up again, but I still I reached out to him and placed my hand on his shoulder and the sand slowly melted away. His body was shaking and he sounded as though he was coughing slightly. He sniffed and lifted his head to face me. Streaks of wetness where on his cheeks and moisture leaked from his eyes. He was crying; his eyes showed so much sadness and inner pain it made me angry._** First they beat him and now I find out he suffers mentally as well!**_ I began to cry even more at that thought.

"I'm so, so sorry I' so sorry." That was all I could say. I'm not sure witch one of us it was meant for but it seemed to help us both.

"Why are you crying?" He asked in a quiet voice it was softer then when I had heard him speak last time. _**For you Gaara that is who I am crying for. **_I could not bring myself to tell him, I doubted he got many people telling him things like that so I didn't.

I stood up and walked a few steps away from him, for a moment his pale eyes showed panic. Could he think that I was leaving him because of what I had seen him do? I stopped so he could get shakily to his feet then slowly walk towards me. He stopped next to me and searched my face for something that told him I didn't care about him.

"Go and sit down I'll get you a drink." I told him with a smile.

He nodded and disappeared in a cloud of sand like he usually did. When I got to the kitchen he was already there sitting on one of the chairs. The sand gourd was resting beside one of the legs of the table; he had obviously put it there when he transported here to get away from the other shinobi because he had not had it with him when he had reappeared. I got two glasses from the freezer and from the fridge a watered down peach juice that was possibly my favourite thing to drink and poured it out. We drank it in silence I didn't want to bring the subject of Yashamaru just in case he 

did anything drastic, I wonder what happened to make him like that? After we had both finished I went back to my studio and he stayed where he was.

I tried to concentrate on my work but I just couldn't get the picture of Gaara out of my mind, so I decided to draw him. It had been a while since I had drawn anything that was what I wanted to draw even if it was just to get an image out of my mind so I could get on with a commission for someone. It took me a good three hours to get it right and add the bits of colour that I wanted, I took the page out of my sketch book and clipped it to my clothes line that held all the paintings I didn't do on canvas. I was very pleased with it, I had found his eyes the hardest to do, to get the emotion in them that only he possessed. I exited my studio and went down the hall to get a drink when I stopped at an empty space on the wall. It took my brain a few seconds to remember that the painting that had hung there had been ripped to shreds just last night. The reason I didn't remember the carnage the first time I had gone to the studio was the fact that all the sand had gone. All of it, only the slashes in the walls remained. The sand had not been there in the morning ether it just added to the mystery._** Did he clean it all up? If he did, he must have gotten up earlier then I thought he did. **_I was amazed at what he had done for me, most children would have waited until you started to clean up to ask if they could help or not help at all.

I continued down the hall into the kitchen and got my drink. The cool water was refreshing after my sudden artistic rush. I could see that he no longer was in the kitchen so he obviously wasn't moping. I went into all the other rooms (including the bathroom) and didn't him in any of them._**Maybe he went for a walk. **_I thought to myself that made sense, he probably just needed time to himself.

By the time I had made diner and eaten it I began to worry about him, he was still missing; his injuries still needed a long time to heal and if they were left to long they would get infected. I went outside to look again luckily it was summer so there was enough light so I could see. I turned to face my house and I looked up at my roof. There he was sitting on it as lifeless as a statue the only movement was the shifting of his bloodied hair in the soft wind; his cold eyes gazing off into the distance as though waiting for something to come. He looked truly beautiful sitting there on my roof with the fading sunlight dancing on his icy white skin and deep red hair. The only thought going through my mind was that he was safe and I was happy. He looked down at he then puffed in his little sand cloud to meet me.

"Come on lets get inside before it gets dark."I told him as I smiled at him.

He nodded and walked into the house without looking back. I followed him into the kitchen where he got out one of my bowls and filled it with the left over stew I had made out of the only foods I had left in my cupboards and the small amount of rice left in the pan on the work top. When he finished he placed the bowl in the sink and walked away. I noticed that he always eat slowly like he had all the time in the world.

"I'm going to have a bath okay."I called after him. I just about saw him nod so I figured he got the message.

I lay in the steamy water with my new book I had starred to read, it was hard to find for myself any more with all the work I had to do. It was a very uninteresting book about a beautiful young woman that worked in a flower shop and a dashing young shinobi that had fallen in love. It was so corny the 

only good bit so far is that he has to go off to war and leave the stupid girl at the flower shop. Maybe later on there would be some good fight scenes that I can use in my art work. When I had finally gotten so bored with the book I got out of the bath, dried off and got dressed into my nightwear then walked to the living room and sat in the chair with a happy sigh. Today had been long but I'd gotten through it, I turned on the TV to see what was on the news. It was yet another report on the invasion and how people where coping; it was not like I didn't feel sorry for them but this was going to be on the news for months after you could only sob and wonder how the poor victims of such a horrific event are coping for so long. The only new thing was that Suna had surrendered and they were now looking for a new Hokage.

The last Hokage had been such a good man; he gave all he could to make Konoha a better place, he even gave his life to save the village from that guy from the Sound village. Across from me I heard a soft chuckle; I turned my face to see what it was.

"I didn't think the old man had it in him." I found Gaaras remark a bit odd, how did he know the Hokage?"At least he tried to do something."

"Does your village have a good leader?" I asked him.

"No, we have the council and most of them are more power hungry then the Kazekage was."His voice showed hate.

"What happened to the Kazekage?"I had no idea why I was asking him all these questions but I just had to know more.

"He was killed by the same man that killed your Hokage, that bastard got what he desired." He said the word 'bastard' as though it was poison.

I knew that the shinobi in Konoha respected their leader and thought greatly of him, none of them would say a bad word about him. It seemed that in Suna even the young shinobi hated their leader; I remembered what that one this afternoon had said to his comrade about the council. If he said that the old Kazekage was dead the council would have to find someone to replace him with even if they didn't want to. I got up from the chair and went to my bedroom hopefully in the morning it would be all better.


	3. Chapter 2 part 2

_I walked along the well worn path that led up to the village hall. We all were; we were all being made to. I was so scared; all I thought I heard were the footsteps of the other villages, the clinching of chains and shackles and the shouts of the people who were making us. They had come a week before and killed many of us, those who survived had been rounded up and were being herded to the village hall. I wanted so much to run away but the chains stopped me._

_There was a sudden flash and we where all in the hall it was dark; the only light being the full moon that shone through the big windows that had been smashed. The village leader was kneeling in the middle of the room in the circle that they had created from the villages. I saw his mouth move; their leader, these evil people that just killed for the sake of killing; but no words came. I could feel the hot tears running down my cheeks as they dragged two people from the crowd. The man punched at them but was only pushed to the floor and hit with a bamboo cane; the woman struggled against them and screamed but I couldn't hear, she to was pushed to the floor. Then with a sudden rush the sound came to me. Their cries for help when no would, I couldn't bare to watch but I just couldn't bring myself to look away. _

"_..And now you will die." Those were the only words I heard._

_Everything slowed down as one of the men took out his sword, raised it above his head and brought it down on them._

"_Wake up."I heard the voice say as the sword hit them, beheading the village leader._

"_Wake up." It repeated as the man was stabbed, I could feel myself screaming but there was no sound._

"_Wake up!" The voice sounded angry._

_The man turned to the woman with his bloodied sword and smiled at her. I screamed harder, but again heard nothing. I felt something rap around me as the sword was plunged into her heart._

"_Wake up!" the voice commanded and whatever had rapped itself around me tightened._

I woke up and screamed. I could still fell it rapped around me I stopped screaming and it retreated slowly. My eyes widened so it wasn't in my nightmare. But then again the voice was never in it before. Slowly I sat up to see what was there, the moonlight steaming in through my window and illuminating my bed and casting a long shadow that cloaked the rest of my bedroom in darkness.

"Who's there?" I called my voice quiet.

Slowly out of the shadows came a figure, half of him was still covered by the darkness, but I could see some of his face. It was white, like porcelain, and seemed to glow in the eerie light. I couldn't see his eyes they were still shadowed. _**Who is that?**_ I thought, the fear of my dream still slowing on my face. He lifted his head lightly so more light shone on it. Half of him was still covered but I could see more of his face. The silent figure looked like an over sized doll. _**Am I still dreaming? **_He didn't look real at all, his skin was to perfect, not a mark on it. His eyes flashed open to reveal shining orbs of a misty blue with the slightest hint of minty green.

"Oh, it's just you; I didn't recognize you in the dark."I felt my heart slow down when I finally recognized his face.

"You were dreaming."He stated calmly.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up, it's just I have that dream sometimes."I chuckled."You'd have thought I'd have grown out of it by now, oh well I guess some things can't be healed by time."

"What was the dream?"His voice was soft as though he was saying it in his head to see if sounded right.

"It...It was the one...The replay of my parents' death."I stuttered rapping my arms around myself.

His eyes darkened and he looked down slightly. As though he were say he was sorry but couldn't bring himself to say it, or didn't know how to. When I was little I used to yell at the people who said they were sorry; I thought what was the point in apologizing for something that wasn't your fault, they made me so angry because instead of helping me they just said 'I'm so sorry' and expected me to go to the next person for help.

"How did they die?"His question startled me.

"A gang of bandits came to my village and killed all the people who tried to go against them. The rest of us were captured and made to watch them kill us off one by one. My parents and the village leader were the first to go; I've had that dream so many times I've blocked out their voices, but that only makes it worse. I managed to escape from there and get to Konoha with the help of an old lady called Choko who taut me all about art and how to be a good person." I told him, he listened to my every word and didn't interrupt.

His head lowered even more, he seemed to understand what I'd gone through or maybe he was just thinking of how little honour they had. To shinobi honour was everything; if they were being lead by an honourable leader then they had a reason to keep fighting for what they thought was right. He looked up at me; his eyes showed something I'd thought I'd never see in a child. An incredible loneliness that I couldn't describe seemed to shine out of his eyes.

"Do you have a family back home?" I asked, I didn't know why I asked but seeing the emotion in his eyes I wondered if he was an orphan.

"I don't know; they won't want me back."His eyes closed off from all emotion as he said it.

"Why?"I whispered hoping he wouldn't hear me.

"Because I'm a monster."He said and walked out of my room.

I just sat there shocked by what he said. _**How could he say that about himself? **_I thought as I lay down and pulled the cover over my head and tried to forget what he had just said. The words rang in my head 'because I'm a monster' over and over again and every time I almost slipped into sleep I saw his lonely eyes in my mind. I finally lost to my mind and stayed up to wait for the morning to come.


	4. Chapter 3

"Wake up, Shizuku-san." I heard a voice say.

I grumbled and lifted my head from my lovely soft pillow to see who woke me up. It was Gaara, clearly I had over slept and he had decided to wake me up yet again. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and sleepily got out of my warm bed.

"What time is it?" I yawned.

"9.30."He replied in his usual monotone voice.

I walked over to the dresser and got out some clothes out to wear. I looked to see if he was still there; the sight of the door sliding shut was my answer. The clothes I had chosen were a plane sky blue t-shirt with three quarter length sleeves with a five pointed star on the back; a pair of black shorts a white flame pattern on the bottom of the leg that finished just below the knee. I decided to tie my hair back today. I loved my hair; it was so odd the way it was not truly curly and not truly wavy, it puffed up slightly and as soon I stepped outside it knotted up and looked like I had spent all my life in the forest or in a cave. The one thing I loved most about my hair was in a strong wind it reared up and danced like a flame; that might also be due to its colour, a soft golden blond, an orange hue, a shining copper and a rich burnt caramel underneath. I had once tried to do a self portrait but I couldn't get the hair right.

I went to my art studio and wrapped up the multi-coloured Sakura painting and carried it the door so I could get my shoes. I needed to deliver it and get some food so we didn't starve. I slipped my shoes on and was about to step out of the door when I felt something tug at my arm. I turned to see that sand had rapped itself around my elbow to stop me from going out the door. I followed it to see Gaara holding my purse in his left hand holding it out to me; he had changed back to his original clothes and had rapped the white sash around his waist again.

"Oh, thank you Gaara I almost forgot." I said smiling at him reaching back and taking my purse from him."Do you want to come?"

"No, I would attract attention."Came his answer.

I nodded gathered all my things and began my way to Konoha, Hopefully I would be able to finish my trip quickly. _**I wonder if I'll see Kaori? **_I hadn't seen my good friend in some time. She would probably be busy with all the casualties that would in the hospital. She was one of the few people who knew my past; I had almost lost contact with her after she became a medic in the hospital.

Once I got to Konoha I soon discovered the extent of the damage; a part of the wall that protected the village was missing, many buildings had been totally destroyed, people were patching up their houses. I only hoped that the house that I had to give the painting to still stud. As I found my way through the village I could see that most of the damage was near the wall, the Hokage building and the battle stadium; good targets for an attack the person that did this must have been a good shinobi.

The house was in good condition only a few gashes in the front of the house that a good slap of plaster wouldn't fix. I knocked on the door because it seemed that the doorbell was missing to. The door opened to reveal a middle aged woman with brown hair tied up in a bun.

"I've come to deliver the painting us asked me to paint."I told her.

"Oh, thank you! You've finished it so quickly, come in and let's have a look at it."She said with a happy smile.

I followed her to her living room and placed the painting on a leather sofa and unwrapped it. She bent down in front of it and looked closely at it. When she had finished she gently picked it up and placed it on an empty hook on the wall.

"It's fabulous, I love it already!"She exclaimed in joy.

"Yes, it was a joy to paint a nice brake from all the pet portraits."I said with my gentle smile.

I walked to the door and told her I had to leave. She ran to the kitchen to collect the money, she was a nice woman by the looks of her. When she came back and gave me the money I took my leave.

"Good bye, I hope the painting brings you much joy."I said waving to her.

"Good bye, and don't worry it will."She smiled waving back.

I wished all my customers were as great full she was; some just took the painting then complained when they had to pay saying it was too much. The world needed more people like her; maybe if that was the shinobi wouldn't have to always have to fight in these pointless wars. _**I wonder if Gaara's been in any of the wars? No, he's too young. **_I thought the only shinobi war I knew of was the one when the Kyuubi attacked the village 12 or 13 years ago.

The food shopping was incredible boring. Traipsing round the stores gave me no pleasure and I still needed to get a lot of food. I finally found the market that sold some really good things. After spending nearly all my money on food I went to the park to rest. As I sat there on a bench I saw a mother with her two young boys that were running around chasing each other. I frowned thinking of Gaara; he said he had a family just they didn't care about him. Soon they walked away and I gathered my bags and went off in search of a stand that sold something to eat.

I eventually found a Ramen stand called Ichiraku Ramen; there was only one customer that was very loud but it seemed alright. I took the seat that was one away from the other customer. He turned out to be a kid about 12 or 13 with bright, blond hair that stuck up in unruly spikes and was wearing a bright orange jacket that had a white wide neck and blue strips on his shoulders, matching pants and blue ninja sandals. Across his cheeks were three vertical lines on both sides, maybe they were battle scars.

"I want another bowl!" He shouted at the cook who dumped some more noodles in his bowl.

"Excuse me, could I have some miso Ramen please."I asked the waitress.

"Sure thing."She said and told the cook.

"More!"He shouted again.

I turned and looked at him how anyone could eat that fast and that much eluded me! He was grinning with happiness when the cook dumped more noodles in his bowl.

"How do you eat so much?" I asked him giggling slightly.

He turned and swallowed what was in his mouth and said."I don't know I just do!"

"Oh, what's your name young man?"I asked him he was very lively almost the exact opposite of Gaara.

"Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to become the next Hokage!"

"Not when you eat that much." The cook called over his shoulder.

"Hey, I've been working hard and helped in the Chuunin exam!" Naruto shouted back.

"You were in the Chuunin exam?" I asked

"Yeah and I had to fight this guy who was kind of like me after Sasuke ran off after him. The idiot couldn't even beat him but I did!"

I turned to the waitress when she brought my meal and asked her."Who is the guy he's talking about?"

"I heard from my friend who went to see the final exam that Sasuke had to fight this psychopath that came from the sand village; she said she can't get him out of her head, after what happened." She told me with concern; Naruto had now turned his attention to his food.

"What happened?"I asked this was getting interesting.

"Well she said that Sasuke hit him with some kind of chakra ball in his hand, it even made it through the cocoon he had made out of sand, and his scream was so horrible the person next to her passed out. The worst part was after that this strange hand shot out of the cocoon, it was like a monsters, a sandy colour with blue flecks all up its length."

"That's terrible." _**What kind of person is able to do that?**_ I said.

The rest of the meal was quieter apart from Naruto who told me all about his team, his missions, his friends and he told me a few more times that he wanted to become the next Hokage. He was a very easy person to have a conversation with and also very funny. When I left he yelled 'Good bye' down the street as loud as he could, I liked him, there needed to be more people like him; just like that woman who brought my painting; in this sad and lonely world.

By the time I got back to my house the sun had already started its descent from the sky. I placed my shoes on the shoe rack and carried my heavy bags to the kitchen where I found Gaara sitting on a chair staring at a glass of water in front of him. He blinked slowly and looked up at me with those lonely eyes I loved so much. I dug around in one of the bags and found a small paper bag that I passed to him. Gently he took it from the table and tipped the continence into his hand. They were little nuts coated in toffee; I needed to get him a thank you present for cooking for me, as he wouldn't accept money I thought it would be a nice gift.

He ate them incredible slowly as I put the food in the cupboards, he watched me the entire time like he did when ever we were in the same room. It felt odd; it was like I could feel a dark aura clinging to 

the air around him warning me of some inhuman danger. After I finished packing all the food away I went to the bathroom.

When I came back he had started cooking. He had somehow found my long lost wok and was chopping up vegetables with one of those ninja knives I had seen him throw at those to shinobi yesterday. He turned to face me still chopping; the knife was just about to slice his finger off.

"Gaara the knife!" I shouted to him in a wild panic.

I watched as the blade came down on his fingers, I heard a soft whooshing sound and a small cloud of sand leapt up from his skin and stopped the blade from doing him any harm. He turned back to the vegetables with a low sigh, this obviously had happened to him before. He let the knife fall from his fingers and put all the chopped up vegetables in my wok.

"I already ate, I don't want any." I told him and walked to the bathroom.

I got in the shower and let the warm water rain down over me, I couldn't get the image of Gaara screaming in my front yard again. As much as I would love to have such ability in the end I would loose the things that makes you learn to fear the things that harm you so you don't hurt yourself. I wanted to ask him how he got the ability but I had no idea how would react, I didn't want to upset him. As I was drying off I thought of what the waitress had said to me 'it even made it through the cocoon he had made out of sand'. I stopped dead. If what she had said to me was true, I had a psychopath sitting in my kitchen eating my food. _**No, if he was truly a psycho he would have killed me by now. **_I needed to think positive thoughts or when I went back in that room I would break down and probably die.

When I had finally got dressed and composed myself I went back into the kitchen with an armful of clean bandages and fresh cotton wool; His would be dirty by now and I needed to check how he was healing. I found him sitting on the same chair he had been on when I had com e back from shopping. The only difference was that he was staring into nothingness. The dishes had been cleaned and the wok but somewhere.

"Can you come into the living room I need to change your bandages."I said it may have been a question but it sounded polite and to the point.

He nodded, stood and walked to the sofa. I followed him, he walked a bit on the stiff side but that was probably he had been sitting down for a long time. He sat obediently on the sofa and waited till I sat down next to him to start to pull off his t-shirt. I slowly and carefully unwrapped the old bandages from his chest and stomach, slowly his healing injuries came into view. The cracks had completely gone, the bruises were fading, _**they've healed fast. **_He lay down so I could treat the cuts on his back. They too had healed faster than I had expected them to but they still looked painful. I could see now that the whip marks had been arraigned in perfect lines. I pulled my hand away in shock. _**And I thought that shinobi had honour! **_I saw him shift so he could see my face, his eyes showed anger.

"How could they do that?" I fumed. "What could anyone do to deserve to have that done to them!"

"It doesn't matter Shizuku, in Suna that is the price of failure."

His words didn't comfort me, I knew he was telling the truth, he had no reason to lie; but why had they gone to the trouble of carving his flesh? I continued to clean his healing injuries and rebadged them. As he sat up I saw a small bruise just below his hair line.

"How did you get that?" I asked without putting my brain into gear before I said it.

He looked into my eyes but didn't say anything to me but I could swear I heard him mutter 'Naruto'. I handed him back his shirt and he walked out of living room without a word. It seemed that he only told me what I needed to know, he was a strange person, and it was like he was trained to take an order and follow it to the letter. The shinobi led a hard life even the young ones. I wouldn't last two minutes in a battle with a ninja; the idea of killing so out of my imagination I didn't want to know what it would feel like.

I slowly walked to my bedroom and realized how tired I was. I turned the light off and curled up in my bed. I closed my eyes and started to drift of into the wonderful land of dreams when I heard a noise outside my window; to lazy to care I ignored it.

"Good night Shizuku-san." Gaaras rough voice whispered from my door and he slid the door shut and I fell into sleep.


	5. Chapter 4

Light flooded in through my window, I heard some little bird chirp happily from outside. I had been having a wonderful dream about poky and ice-cream. I got up reluctantly and dressed in a plain green vest like top and a pair of really baggy jeans held up by a rainbow coloured belt. I found a pair of knitted socks to keep my feet warm.

Once again there was mouth watering sent wafting from the kitchen, on the table was a signal plate of little pancakes smothered in honey. Gaara wasn't in the room but the back door was open. _**Why would he be outside? Oh well those pancakes look exhalent. **_I severed each mouthful of them but they didn't last forever and I had to wash up the plate.

I went to the bathroom to retrieve my book and sat in my art studio and read some of it. There some good war scenes and it did have a good ending, he didn't come back and all they found of him was his damaged headband. I felt sorry for her she didn't have a body to morn over, she didn't get to say a last goodbye to him and she had to deal with the fact he was gone and she didn't have absolute proof he was dead.

I finished a painting of some persons dog, why so many rich people wanted paintings of there dogs in woodland settings when that dog properly will never know what the outside world looks like eluded me. Today looked like it was going to a long, boring day, even Gaara wasn't around to talk to even though he didn't talk much. I looked at a picture of me on my wall. It had been taken by Choko when I had fist got here. I looked so sad and depressed, it took me so long to get out of that mind set, I still don't like my picture taken my few friends think that a lady should enjoy the fact someone thinks I'm pretty enough for a photo.

I lazily went outside to see if I could find Gaara. Why could I never find him? He was like a cat, a cat that likes to sit of a wall and watch people for hours but never go to them. I looked on the roof and there he was staring off into the forest like a statue. _**A cat that can cook. **_I had the image of a red cat standing at my oven cooking mice. I smiled. He leaned forward a bit then poofed down in his sand cloud to stand next to me, his eyes still fixed on the forest.

I heard someone coming down the path, rather noisily, they were singing. I recognised the voice but couldn't put it to a face. Gaara disappeared into the house not wanting to be seen. I saw a man standing in my front yard with a wide, drunken smile on his face.

He was wearing a single layered yukata white in colour and a bright red rim of what I thought was silk; long, baggy black pants that were worn and muddied from walking through the forest. He wore wooden geta sandals with higher then normal platforms and red velvet thongs. His face was lightly tanned, over his right eye was a plane black eye patch; his over eye was a sickly yellow colour. The mans hair was down to his waist and a vivid purple colour with acid green vertical stripes.

"Shizuku-chan have you forgot who I am!" He said in slightly slurred voice.

"No, I haven't Kuri come in and I'll get you some tea."

Kuri followed me into the kitchen after kicking his sandals half way down my hall and telling me he loved me as he usually did to everyone he met. He squinted at the table were Gaara was sitting with a passive expression on his face, I could tell he was unhappy. Today maybe wasn't going to be long and boring.

"A bit young for you isn't he?" Kuri chuckled with a suggestive wag of his eyebrow.

"Kuri! Just because you do things like that doesn't mean we all do!"I yelled at him

Said man just plonked his arse on the table and put a hand on Gaaras shoulder smiling. This wasn't going to good, if Kuri didn't control his pervy urges he would soon loose that hand of his. Gaara just brushed it off and took a sip of tea from one of the cups on the table. Kuri looked a bit put out but sat on a chair and poured himself a cup of tea. After the tea was gone Gaara left for the door but was followed by Kuri who was soon sent scurrying back to me.

"He's creepy, why do you have him in your house?" He said, I could smell the faint sent of sake on his breath.

I ignored the question and dragged him to my art studio before he could protest. Kuri had been one of my first friends when I had come to Konoha; being a few years older than me he had left the village and gotten a job as a designer before Choko had died. He had always been a bit of a perv but that was Kuri. He had lost his eye because his ways had let him get a bit to close to a male shinobi with flowing black hair and red eyes, never got his name though,and they had poked his eye out, I had to stay with him at the hospital for weeks, ever since then he was a bit more careful.

"Oow this is a very nice painting."

Kuri was looking at a canvas with a lady in a black dress painted on it, not one of my favourites but different people like different things. He was very good at what he did I could never coordinate a house without it all looking tacky and old. He sometimes brought my paintings and wall hangings to put in his houses thus promoting my work.

"I'll give you 400 for it." Kuri proposed digging out some money from his sleeve.

"Deal" I said shaking his hand.

He continued to look at my work until he got bored, Kuri was a very mundane person at times especially when he was just starting to sober up. He would have stayed there all afternoon if he could but I decided to make a light lunch.

In the kitchen I made us both an instant Raman, Kuri said I should stop eating like a common person and offered to make something else. _**If only you knew what kind of food I've been eating. **_

"How has business been since I last saw you?" Kuri asked shoving noodles in his mouth.

"Good, you know I saw some kid eating like you yesterday at a Raman bar, just like a pig." I answered flatly.

"Hey, I don't eat like a pig!" He protested spraying little bits of noodle on my table.

"Idiot." I mumbled. "And stop messing up the table, you do eat like a pig!"

"I love you."

"Yeah and I love you too." I said sarcastically.

Kuri was like that every time he came; rude, pervy, cocky, mostly drunk and had terrible table manners. We continued to eat and argue about stupid things, he was such an annoying person to be with. I really needed to make more normal friends and stop letting just anyone just swan into my house. As if on cue Gaara casually walked in the kitchen, he stood near the door to my hall and stared coldly at Kuri, I didn't blame him you needed to watch out for him if he got to close.

Kuri turned to face him and stared back. I could just see the corners of Gaaras lips curl slightly, Kuri shivered and turned back round. I chuckled in spite myself, Kuri hated as he would put it 'creepy little brats' and it seemed Kuri had just met the king of them. Kuri looked at me with pleading eyes hoping I would shoo 'the creepy little brat' away. As suddenly as Gaara came he crept back to were he'd come from.

"That has to be the weirdest kid I have ever seen. His eyes are scary." Kuri shuddered as he spoke.

I sipped at my Reman and looked him strait in the eyes and said."After what he did to one of my most prized paintings you should think he's scary."

"I noticed it was gone. I heard there's been some kind of mini wars going off."

"Yeah, many have died."

"From what I found out Suna and their 'ultimate weapon' along with some crazy Sound-nins massacred loads of shinobi but were over- powered then vanished back into desert. I went there a few months ago, they're really creepy the lot of them; even the Genin are creepy. Everyone was skittish and a bit depressed. The oddest thing is that no one goes out after dark, even the higher level shinobi. They say there's a monster that watches them, a monster that can not sleep, a monster that can not feel pain, a monster that shows no mercy; a monster that can not love. I tried to get more info but it seems that the Kazekage has been tiring to get shot of it for years."

"Kuri, monsters don't exist any more."

He slurped what was left in his cup and through it into the rubbish bin at the other end of kitchen with a loud cry of 'beat that ninjas ha!'_**How childish.**_

"What did you come to talk about?" I asked, he never talked like this; the world it seemed was a lot stranger then Choko had led me to believe.

"My fabulous new designs!" Kuri exclaimed with a foxy grin plastered on his face."Oh Shizuku you look most displeased."

The conversations then turned to the 'fabulous' new designs of Kuri, they were good from what I could see from the photos. Lavish decorations, bright colours, large furniture, spacious rooms; I could only dream of house that looked like this. Kuri talked about all the people he had been working with, the places he'd been to, the materials he'd worked with and he even showed me a photo of a man with hair the colour of a crisp, green apple who had become his new business partner.

"He looks nice." I said offhandedly, flipping the photo over and looking at the writing on the back.

'For Shizuku, this is what I look like, I'm sure Kuri will mention me, Kito.'

The man had a kind face and was smiling in the picture, so care free, so happy, so not his type. It seemed that every thing was going well for Kuri. I looked up; Kuri had turned around and was having another staring contest with Gaara. _**Odd, he's not usually this social. **_Kuri lost again.

"The sun's setting."Gaara murmured.

"Okay." I said.

I got up from the table washed out my cup and put it in the bin, gathered up Kuris photos and gave them back to him. I made Kuri get up and dragged him to the door with loud protests from the man. I handed him his painting all rapped up and gave him his sandals. If I'd have told him it was time to leave he would have found some way of finding a reason to stay a little while longer.

"Good bye Kuri, come and see again some time." I called to him as walked away.

Kuri didn't answer; he just raised his hand and waved. Kuri never said good bye because according to him 'real men leave without words' well I don't think that Kuri was a real man but that is how he is. After he had disappeared down the road I looked up at the roof, Gaara was already sitting on it watching the sun sink in the sky.

I walked around the house looking for a way I could get up from, after a little check for sturdiness I started to climb up a trellis, it was old but it was holding my weight. I struggled to pull myself up onto the roof; I never was very graceful; even Gaara had turned to watch me haul myself up onto the roof like some kind fat seal. Finally I managed and sat down next to him facing the sunset.

"Do you this every night?" I asked him.

He nodded; the fading light illuminated his skin and made it shine in a strange orange glow his eyes seemed to soften in this light as well, not as over powering. I loved the sunset it always made me sad some how, like the passing of another day was a thing to be mourned. It made me think of all the happy things about the world as well and how maybe tomorrow they will be even better.

"What does the sunset make you think about?" I asked

He looked down a bit; he did that when he was thinking. "The dead."

I felt a bit shocked and tried to hide it, I properly failed. We continued to just sit in silence listening to the wildlife and watching the sun disappear into the darkness of the night. It made me think how alone I was, just me and the house. _**I need to get a boyfriend before I get to old. **_I stretched and yawned, I had no idea I was so tired, I took one last look at the dying sun then made my way, rather clumsily, down the trellis and to the front door.

"Will you be alright up there?" I called to Gaara. I could just see him nod; he never took his eyes of the discoloured sky as he did so.

I went round the house turning all the lights off, changed into my night clothes and climb into my bed and snuggled down into the covers and pillow. I rolled over to look out the window, when the moon was full I would sit and look at it from the window as a child; Choko would always say that the 

demons that come out when the moon was full would come and get me if I sat there long enough. With a happy, nostalgic smile I drifted into dream land. __ __


	6. Chapter 4 part 2

I rolled over and opened my eyes, it was still night. I looked around lazily; the moon light was streaming through the window casting long shadows of imaginary things. I rolled on my back, the ceiling wasn't very interesting but it needed to be painted soon anyway. I sat up, it was cold. _**Odd it's a summer night. **_I instantly became fully awake I gathered the covers around me; something just wasn't right, no bad dream to wake me up, no strange noises, no sunlight, no cooking and no nagging voice.

I frowned in confusion, I could tell something was wrong but just couldn't place it. Choko had once said I had a kind of sixth sense, like a rabbit sensing a fox or something like that. I looked at the window the moon hung lonely in the sky a few thick clouds skimming over it. I could she no stars just a big, fat sliver moon. I remembered stories of nights when the moon was full demons and evil spirits would wonder the night picking off unsuspecting victims that just happened to be ether small children or beautiful young women.

I shifted around trying get my eyes used to the dark. I shifted some more I never liked the dark much I always slept with a night light until I was about 13; Choko said I was being foolish to dwell in the past, she knew why though, she knew it was because of my parents. I listened to the sound of wind against the window, not a practically scary sound but not a pleasant one. The house always made noises in the night like all old houses do. I got used to them after a while they were just another part of my life now.

Someone passed the door I could just make out the sound, light and gentle ninjas footsteps. The footsteps went pasted again and again. _**Why is he traipsing up and down my hall? **_I slowly got out of bed and gently made my way to the wall careful not to make to much noise. I pressed my ear to the door; many years of experience had taught me how to eavesdrop without getting caught.

"No... please I didn't mean to disobey...I...she helped... I can't...no...I know...soon I promise not...he...I don't need you..." I couldn't catch all he was saying but someone was there with him and they had a much quieter voice.

"Please...I know...I can't..." His footsteps were becoming more uneven as he went back and forth.

"I didn't mean to disobey you I promise you I'll give you blood, not yet, not her." He had stopped right outside my door.

My mouth opened in disbelief at what he had just said. Some one was trying to get him to kill me, I felt sick, was he part of some strange cult that demanded blood and death. I had let him into my home, how could I have been so stupid! I listened again to see what would happen.

"I...I promise...don't hurt me...please I beg you...I will bring...I will...yes...they will all... I will prove my...I will survive!" His voice had become hysterical by the end his footsteps louder, the person had managed to change his mind somehow.

I listened as he walked away down the hall and away from my room. I felt my heart pounding in my ears as I waited to decide on what to do. After some time I found enough courage to slowly make my way to the kitchen to see if he had come back. The door was left wide open and the gourd that I had found him with had gone to. I could only imagine what carnage he could produce.

I waited and waited until I would see him waltz through the door with God knows what covering him. I got up to leave and felt the room chill, _**he's back. **_I turned around preparing my mind for anything to come. He just stood there in the middle of the room covered in blood. His face was caked in it and probably his hair but the colour made it imposable to tell, the black shirt probably soaked, I knew why he wore dark clothed; to hide the blood stains. His eyes were fixed on me, something deep within them reminded me of a chained up animal, wild and bold thirsty.

I took a few steps back my face in shock. If I got to a window I could make it to the forest in a few seconds, hopefully. I turned and ran down the hall, fear and instinct told me to run, run from the beast that was going to kill me. I felt something grab my ankle and pull me to the floor. I screamed as it dragged me to its master. I turned to look at him if I was going to die I would stair it in the face. He looked hurt, his eyes angry and burning in hate.

"Why do you all fear me, why do you always run?" His voice was dark.

He lifted up his hand and stretched it out to me more sand came around my body tightening its hold on whatever part of me it could. The sensation was horrible the sand was damp and smelt like a bad piece of meat but worse, probably the smell of rotting corpses. I tried to struggle that only made it worse. I decided to talk my way out of being mashed to death; I was going to do everything I could to save my life.

"You don't want to kill me." I told him, my voice holding firm.

"Why do you hate me?" His face stayed the same.

"I don't hate you, why would I help you if I hated you?" I asked.

"You're all the same I can see it in your eyes you hate me." He was talking, hopefully a good sign.

"I heard you talking to that person, you said you wouldn't kill me." Maybe he would remember that.

"How." His face changed, momentarily portraying shock.

"I over heard the conversation." I didn't want to sound like a snoop.

He closed his hand a fraction and the sand pressed in to me, squeezing the life out of me like a giant snake. His eyes showed confusion but his face stayed the same emotionless mask that it was most of the time. He didn't know what to do. He let his hand flop down to his side but the sand stayed where it was, I still couldn't move. He shook his head from side to side his body shivering, I had seen this before, it was like he was fighting something in his mind. He put a shaky hand on the left side of his head, curling it into a fist pulling on his messy hair.

The sand scrunched together I bit my lip to stop the dry of pain, didn't need to draw his attention on me. He took a few shaky steps back before falling to his knees, bent double in obvious pain. He had his over hand twisted in his hair as well trying to distract himself from the bigger pain. The sand had started too slid off me and back to its master coiling around in the air about him. I shuffled backward on my bottom feeling behind me with my hands and keeping me balanced.

He had started to whimper and mutter to himself. I felt my heart tighten in my chest I felt pity for him I just wanted to reach out and make him better but my mind told me to stay as far back from the monster as I could. He was rocking back and forth in an almost calming motion still whimpering.

"No please it hurts." His voice was panicked.

"Please make it stop, make it stop, make it stop, make it stop!"He cried out in fear, speaking so fast I could barely make it out.

As he said it the sand exploded outwards in a cloud of sharp needles. It stung my skin and heard a few ornaments crash to the floor, some breaking. I opened my eyes, he was lying on his side panting, still shivering and tugging at his hair. He looked so weak and tired, like when I had found him in the river.

I crawled over to him on my hands and knees and sat beside him. Tentatively I reached over and gently uncurled his fingers from his hair, he stared me dead in the eyes all the time. I gently pulled his torso from the ground and lay his head in my lap and started to smooth out his hair. He shivered occasionally but had started to relax and let me continue with his hair. I tried not to look at my hands, they were now red and wet from the blood in his hair, my thin night clothes soaked and stained as well. I started to brush the knots from his hair with my fingers I had no idea why I was doing this I wasn't the touchy-feely type of person, I didn't like to hug the few friends I had.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"It's okay, go and get cleaned up I'll wash your clothes." I said to him without a smile.

I helped him up and he went down the hall to the bathroom, it was starting to look like the first time I'd found him. He gave me his clothes and I washed them in the sink. The water was a horrible red when I'd finished. I hung above the cooker to dry with some string to make a makeshift washing line. I gave him some over clothes to wear while his dried. I didn't think of much I was a bit shocked at what had just happened, I didn't believe it had really happened. I went in the living room to sit and think. _**Is he really a monster? Did I let a monster into my home? **_I didn't want to think about that.

After some time he came to find me, he stood as far away from me as he must have thought polite. He still looked he straight in the eyes, many people wouldn't have the courage. I watched him to see if he would do anything. He looked the same as always but I knew now he wasn't to be trusted.

"Do you wish to say anything?" I asked I didn't smile or make my voice sound happy.

"You don't like me just like the others."He said it more to himself then to me.

"I do like you, I' just trying to get my mind to work properly."I told him.

Slowly he crept closer to me waiting for me to do something like I had done with him.

"Why were you in the river?" I asked I wanted him to tell me the truth.

"They didn't want me anymore, they didn't want a demon." I said coldly, I was getting somewhere.

"You don't look like one."I hoped I could coax more out of him.

"Before I was born, my father, the Kazekage sealed the demon, Shukaku within my body killing my mother. When they found out I couldn't control the demons strength my father tried to get rid of me but the sand would always protect me and the assassins would die. I can't sleep or the demon will eat my very being and take over my body and mind. Everybody hated me and I thought all I could do was kill, until Naruto told me why he was so strong, how he escaped the loneliness. He told to care for people to love, people he told me that having someone to protest and love would make me stronger and people would stop hating me." As he said it he looked down at the floor.

"I had no idea I'm so sorry I didn't mean to upset you."I trailed off.

I felt bad I had thought of him as nothing but a monster for trying to kill me. I thought at what the two Sand shinobi had said, the waitress at the Ramen stand and Naruto. I had been listening to people telling me about him but I had been so stupid not but two and two together.

"Go to sleep." He said as he turned around and walked off down the hall.

I did as he said curling up in a ball in the chair I was sitting and drifted off.


	7. Chapter 5

I woke up still curled up in the chair. My back was stiff from being in such an odd position for so long. I sat up and stretched slowly letting my back and shoulders pop and click. I looked to the window, another bright and sunny day to come. The sun didn't seem to shine all the way to my heart I still felt bad for being afraid of Gaara, it wasn't his fault for all things he had done. It made me shudder to think of what he could have done before he met Naruto.

I smiled it seemed the strange blond was a much more interesting person then he first appeared to be. I knew from the first sentence he was different. He even looked odd the scars and the brightly coloured clothes. Maybe I would meet him again some day. _**I hope you do become the Hokage and lead this country with a kind heart. **_I stood up and walked back to my bedroom, found some clean clothes and went to have a shower.

The water was mostly cold, I really needed to pay my bills so they'd let me have more hot water. When I'd finished and walked to the kitchen I found my breakfast already on the table. I sat down and ate it; it was heaven on a plate as usual. It felt strange with him not watching me; I'd grown accustomed to his presence. I hoped he wouldn't leave me without telling me was going, I wanted to say goodbye.

The day stretched on without me seeing even a single grain of sand. I couldn't work on any of my paintings, kept feeling guilty for what I'd thought. I kept looking at the many flowers in the clearing. There many different types and colour, they swayed in the breeze flowing above the grass in clouds. I opened the window to let the sent of the flowers wash through the door. They all looked so beautiful, in clumps of the same kind in little families. Some stood alone taller then others but near their family. I scanned the field; my eyes were drawn to a flash of red. I climbed out the window and walked to it, I saw it was a little flower, deep blood-red petals that fanned out like the wings of a bird; they rippled in the breeze like thin paper that would rip at slightest touch. It was the most beautiful flower I'd ever seen I had no idea that such a thing was in the little clearing. I'd never seen it before when I'd looked out the window. But your eyes do that to you, if you look at a crowd you don't see the different people you just see the people who are the same. _**That was very poetic maybe that book damaged my brain more than I thought. **_I looked back at it must have been a lonely flower, no one the same, Choko had told me that being the last of something was one of the worst things in the world you can never be much of something when your the last one.

I went back to my studio to get my sketch pad, pencils, a chair and an easel. I sat and drew the lone, red flower trying my best to make it as realistic as possible. I wanted it not to be alone so by drawing it a friend it would always have someone. It was childish to do this but I needed to do something to pass the time. I sent hours on it colouring and making it the best I could. When I'd finished I went to the kitchen to put the flower on the fridge. I smiled I hadn't something like that since my parents died. I dug in my rather empty freezer and found peach flavoured Popsicle.

I sat on the ground licking the Popsicle and staring down the dirt road that led to Konoha. I was about to go back in the house when I heard voices come from down the road and darted behind the tree like last time. I waited until they had stopped in front of the tree and tried to listen to their conversation.

"I hope some one lives here?"One said, the voice was male in early teens maybe.

"Scared of an abandoned house are we?" The second voice said, this voice was female about the same age, from the comment I judged them to be close friends or siblings.

"No!"Came the angry response.

"Come on lets knock on the door."

I heard them knock on the door, wait, turn back and start walking down the road.

"This is just great, we've been looking for three days now and no sign of him, not one dead person, not even one!" The boy said to his companion.

"I know, I hope we find him soon I don't want to go back home without him, the council will throw one heck of a party."She said back.

They continued to walk away; I didn't know what to do. They were looking for some one I could maybe help them.

"Wait!" I called to them as I ran from behind the tree.

They turned around to see me. Both looked young, in their early teens. The girl was quite tall with sandy blond hair held in four spiky pony tails on the sides of her head and dark eyes. She was wearing a light purple long sleeved top with a sort of body armour that covered her chest and stomach tied up with a red string over her shoulders and a red sash around her waist. She had a dark navy short skirt with fish nets one halfway down her left thigh, the other just below her right knee and the standard shinobi sandals in black. On her back was a large metal bar in the shape of a closed fan.

Her male companion was wearing an all black body suit with a circle on the chest with one half yellow and the other a burgundy colour. He had a pouch I'd seen used by other shinobi on his right thigh with black shinobi sandals in a different style then I'd seen before. His head was covered by a hat that resembled the ears of a cat, that to was black. His face was covered in purple paint in triangular patterns. He had beady black eyes. On his back was a large object rapped in white bandages, on the top it had a sort of hair or fur brown in colour.

I could see they were foreign, the way they dressed, the way the looked. My eyes were drawn to the symbol on the boys hat, the stamp of Suna shinobi. It was on a headband around the girls neck, blue like the rest of them. As I'd been taking in their appearance they had been doing the same to me.

"Who are you?" The boy asked.

"I'm Shizuku, I own the house." I answered.

"Sorry to intrude, but we are looking for our teammate, he went missing about six days ago and we have to find him." The girl said, she didn't look worried or sad at the loss of her teammate.

"Please come inside and tell me more." I said politely gesturing at the door.

I made them both tea and we sat at the kitchen table when we got inside, both were constantly looking around for danger of some kind. They left their things by the door. I thought it strange to 

have more foreign shinobi in my house. _**Am I magnet for them or something? **_They also seemed to be comfortable around me even though I could be considered an enemy.

"Are you going to tell me about your teammate?" I asked sipping at my tea.

"Yes, he went missing about six days now, as I've said, we really need him back." The girl said.

"Yeah, have you seen a short kid, dark clothes, red hair, scary?"The boy said listing their teammate's appearance, when he said he received a smart smack to the head form the girl.

"Yes I've seen him it's a shame if you'd have come here yesterday I'd have been able to show where he is."I said hoping they believed me.

"What! You know where he is!" The girl shouted almost slamming the tea cup on the table and almost chocking as well.

"No, I think he ran off last night, I found him in the river about five days ago and he stayed at my house until last night." As I explained what happened both looked shocked as if I'd just told them how I'd tamed a wild beast.

"Are you sure?" The boy asked giving me a wary look.

"Why would I lie when you told me you needed to find him, I only hope you're not looking for the same person or thing that some other shinobi are from your village were."I looked them dead in the eye hoping it would get the message across more strongly.

They looked at each other, talking to each other with their eyes alone. The girl bit her lip and frowned. Both turned their heads back to face me; the boy looked at the door leading to the hall looking for something. The girl put down her tea cup gently on the table sliding it back to me. I poured her out some more tea; I could tell they were thinking about their mission. They didn't want to talk anymore, talking would mean spilling secrets that only people from their village should know.

I felt odd sitting at the table with the two of them in silence. It was worse then having Gaara just staring off into space. He was gone and they needed to find him. I felt guilt seep back to me, it was my fault he was gone.

"I'm sorry; it's my fault he's gone." I said finally knotting my hands together on the table and looking down at them.

"How?" They both said together.

"The thing in his head tried to make him crush me. Oh god I was so frightened, I thought I was really going to die. He looked so so-"

"Demonic?"The girl suggested.

"Yeah, it just seemed like a bad dream, all the blood and everything. The sand. Oh god it smelled so bad. I couldn't do anything but just tremble in fear." Both my hands were shaking I could feel a few tears fall from my eyes. I sniffed and dropped my head onto my hands and tried to compose myself.

I was not going to look like an idiot in front of them.

I heard one of the chairs scrape across the floor; I didn't look up, I didn't want to. I felt a hand gently rest on my shoulder.

"It's hard to bare, we all know that, I'm just amazed that he let you live." It was the girl.

"He was covered in blood, someone's blood, some poor persons blood. How can he bare that? How can he live with doing those kinds of things? Is it that, that thing in his mind?" I was getting worked up, I never thought I would be having this reaction if I talked about it.

"Not always, most of the time it's him, that's how he thinks he can exist by killing everyone but himself; he doesn't care about any one but himself." The boy said with some force behind the words.

"Then why didn't he kill me the first time? Why wait?" I wanted to know all I could about him, I wanted to know what he was.

"That brat from the forest, a blond kid. He beat Gaara until both were out of chakra, something changed about him, that kid must have said something to make him see 'the light'" He answered.

I sniffed and looked up at him; his face looked like a painted doll with the bright purple markings although not quite as delicate in features.

"The kids name is Naruto I met him a few days ago, I think he said something about pummelling someone." I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. "Does any one want more tea?"

I poured out more tea and we sat in silence once more, we didn't look at each other as if I had just uttered the most horrendous taboo. I looked out the window at the tree outside, a small bird was hopping about on one of its many strong branches; I could hear its song floating over to me through the open window. This continued for a long time, just sitting and thinking, until the small bird chattered an alarm and flew off into the forest; I lifted my head a little, frowning, trying to see what had frightened it away. I got up and went over to the window to get a better view, when I reached it I could see Gaara standing in the middle of my yard with a tall man.

"Hey! Where have you been?"I called across to Gaara.

Both turned their heads to me the man looked a bit dodgy from his appearance; he looked a bit confused as well.

"And who are you?" I called to him.

The two young shinobi were suddenly by my side looking out the window. I glanced at the boy his painted face showed only shock, he had his mouth hanging slightly open. The girl was gawking to at the scene as well, although her mouth was closed.

"Temari! Kankurou!" The man barked at them.

They glanced at each other and nodded to the man outside and the boy jumped out through the window landing gracefully on the grass on the other side.

"Why did you do that? You disrespectful brat!" Temari shouted at him waving a fist in the air as a threat, but he just looked over his shoulder flashing a grin that made him look much like a cat.

"I wouldn't bother; he acts just like a friend of mine when he was younger." I murmured to Temari.

She laughed leaning out of the window and calling to her teammate."You forgot your shoes idiot!"

The boy halted for a moment then continued walking towards as if nothing had been said, from past experiences with men this told me he was acting as if he had meant to do that.

"Get your shoes, Kankurou and listen to your sister" The man said with a stern expression on his face.

I followed the girl to the door and let the boy get his shoes they looked like siblings close up, it seemed fitting that they were. They gathered up their things and went out to meet their sensei, he to be in at least his early thirties and dressed in the standard shinobi uniform but in lighter more earthy colours. He wore a white turban with a large part covering the left side of his face completely on the right he had two fang-like tattoos running horizontal across his cheek bones. Proudly tied on his forehead was the metal seal of the Suna shinobi I'd come to recognise. I smiled to him and he nodded his acknowledgement.

They all stood in a group; it was interesting to see that their sensei stood the closest to Gaara the two others kept their distance without looking as if they were part of a separate group. Gaara looked up at me, I met his eyes and smiled a small smile, I would miss him; miss him for all the odd things he does, the odd way in which he spoke and his odd presence in the world. The corners of his mouth flexed upwards in what could be called a smile, well it was a smile for him. I grinned at him and embraced him in a light hug; I was never a touchy-feely type of person but I decided that he was in need of a few hugs.

His teammates looked shocked when I pulled away from him and was still in one peace. Surprise even registered on the face of their sensei. Soon They were on their way walking away from my house and my life forever; it had been a fun week, having a psycho in my home. The girl waved her goodbye and the boy gave a little embarrassed wave when the girl hit him and told him to be polite.

"Bye, I hope you all become strong and god shinobi!" I called happily to them as I waved to them.

"I will!"The boy shouted back grinning.

As soon as they had vanished over the horizon I felt tear rolling down my face I was acting like a parent watching their child leaving home for first time. I went back in the house and went on the kitchen to get a drink. The nearest thing was the jug of peach juice was I downed the lot; it would have gone off any way.

I sat at the table for hours, just sitting and staring at the red flower painting on the fridge. I had just realised just how boring and lonely my life was until I met Gaara. I eventually got up and went to go and get ready for bed but I was stopped by a knock on the door I trudged to it and yanked the thing open. Standing on the over side was a man with hair the colour of a crisp, green apple; his skin was fair and he had soft hazel eyes. He was dressed in a simple, plain brown t-shirt and baggy beige cargo pants and simple sandals. Around his neck was a length of cord knotted together at the ends.

"I'm sorry to bother you but could you let me stay the night; I'm visiting the village and forgot to pay for a hotel." He had a soft, musical voice that I found quite attractive.

"Yes you may, and can you tell me your name you look very familiar, I just can't remember where i saw your face?" I answered standing aside to let him in; I was not going to make the mistake of asking people's names after I've let them in my home.

"Kurosaki, my name is Kurosaki Kito." He said a light smile on his lips.

Maybe my life wasn't going to be boring and lonely after all.

The End.


End file.
